 See what's new on the Burlington Walk. Morning and welcome to my show on the waterfront. My name is Melinda Moulton and I am your host and today I am so excited to talk to Tori Jones who is the Development Director of ACLU Vermont. Tori how you doing? I'm doing great Melinda. It's great to be with you. It's good to be with you too. I've been so excited to have this interview and to learn all about you and the work you're doing at ACLU and especially with what's going on in our world with voting rights and all the things that are going on. So this is going to be a great half hour folks and so thank you for tuning in and for and for learning about Tori's story and all of her great work. So let's just start right off with Tori. Tell me a little bit about your life. Where do you hail from? A little bit about who you are. Sure. Well thanks so much for having me. It's really a pleasure and I've really enjoyed working with you and so this is such a special time. Yeah so I came to Vermont as many have from out of state. I went to UVM. I'm originally from Silver Spring, Maryland just outside DC and I'm a child of two public educators. My mom was an early childhood interventionist and my dad was an elementary school principal so education and advocacy have always been really important to me and even getting a little talking about it because advocacy and advocating for children and immigrant communities where I grew up has just been a forefront of my mind in my life for over 35 years. So when I was looking at colleges I knew that I wanted to be in New England and my mom tells the story so well that the first time I stepped on the UVM campus she knew that was you know where I'd end up which is such a special story. I had a wonderful experience at UVM. I can't say enough things. I was a graduate of the Rubinstein School of Environment and Natural Resources that was a transformational experience for me and I spent my time actually on my thesis. This is a common thread you know throughout my life or activism is important to me and what has led me here to the ACLU. I focused my thesis on the demilitarization of Vieques, Puerto Rico and a lot of people think of Puerto Rico yet you know US territory, beaches, really nice place to vacation but a common tale that people don't know about is a lot of islands and territories across the globe have been used for military testing facilities and Vieques, Puerto Rico is an island off of the mainland of Puerto Rico. It's an archipelago and I went down there with a group of UVM students several times to do research and talk with community members and understand what this militarization of their homeland and their island meant to them and what they experienced. It was militarized for over 50 years and people relocated from World War II up until the Bush, the second Bush administration. It's one of the things that I think he did a good job on was actually relocating, removing the military from the island so people could resume some normalcy to their lives. So to me that was you know that experience was really because of UVM and because of the education I had there and activism was always something that was important to me growing up outside DC, going to rallies, going to protests, the Iraq war, the million mom march, all of these things that I did with my parents and my community growing up and so Vermont was a really special place for me and I've actually been here ever since and my first job out of UVM was working for Congressman Welch and that was again another really special transformative experience for me where I got to work alongside Vermonters, help them with problems with the federal government and just be an advocate for Vermonters and that's something that's really been special for me in my life. What a beautiful childhood and growing up experience you had with two educators and then coming to UVM, going to all the rallies and becoming sort of radicalized all the things that are right and then working for Peter Welch. Talk to us a little bit about that experience of working for Peter who is trying so hard you know in the house to create the change that we need for our world. Talk a little bit about working for him. Yeah I can't I have to say that you know Congressman Welch is one of the most empathetic and supportive people and leaders were so lucky to have him in office and you know I was 22 right out of college and experiencing the professional world and a very serious important job right right off the bat but it was really grounded in you know authentic support and communication with Vermonters. We were in the Burlington office so we were doing most of that casework and advocacy with organizations and towns and individuals and our DC office was focused on the legislative side but I was able to travel with Congressman Welch across Vermont in communities. We set up Congress in your community gatherings at general stores and farmers markets and town centers and really getting to know what Vermont is all about and you know I certainly know that my experience in Burlington at UVM was limited and so being able to travel to all corners of the state and hear what Vermonters were experiencing really again helped me bring together my personal background in education and advocacy and understanding communities and sense of place and we have such a special state but we really need to make sure what we're hearing from all voices and I felt like answering the phones being in community traveling with him I was able to get a better understanding of our state both the opportunities that we have but also the challenges that many people face. So Tori as a young person as a professional woman how are you feeling about present day and where we are with issues like the women's issues and where we are with voting rights and in our democracy and certainly most important of everything is climate change. I would love to hear your perspective growing up in this world I'm 71 years old I was I was radicalized in the 60s and tried to make changes with the civil rights movement the women's movement but you know you're you're you're coming into your own into your own leadership and your generation is going to be the next group of leaders if you're not already and how are you feeling about the state of our world right now. Thanks for that yeah it's a really challenging time I mean across you know as you said every segment of our experience is being challenged in ways that I think for my generation you know we we have an experience in the same way you know I'm a child of the 80s and and so I'm you know in my mid to late 30s at this point I've seen a lot I mean I remember world wars going on you know in in the 90s when I was reading Time for Kids in elementary school and you know we have significant problems with you know mass shootings and the Columbine era and all of that going through that and then climate change I was an environmental studies major at UVM that is something that is extremely important to me and we're seeing the effects of it I mean look at just this week in Vermont our weather has it was colder um on Christmas I'm sorry it was colder this week in July than it was at Christmas of December 2020 so we're seeing these incredible changes and people are stressed you know people are frustrated both with you know their rights in question that people aren't feeling safe in their communities we've had this racial reckoning that we've seen before but it's different this time and I didn't live through the 60s and through the civil rights era but I've read a lot about it and I'm a student I'm a lifelong student I'm always doing the work and trying to understand history and where we are today but it's a really scary time you know trans rights are being questioned and taken away reproductive rights so I'm really personally I'm really I'm appreciative of the opportunity to be a member of the ACLU staff and to be working with you know fantastic supporters like you and others throughout our our state and community and the partners that I'm making partnerships I'm making across the country with other ACLU affiliates because we all really need to get involved to me that was something that my family really emulated growing up as working as educators but also being involved in civic organizations in our community and again as a white woman I understand that I have had a different experience in many people and I'm I live with that privilege as a white woman but I also feel as though how we can get involved is really the best way forward being educated and and doing our work both internally in our communities and at our workplaces and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to speak on behalf of the ACLU meet with people across Vermont hear their experiences tell them about the important work that we're doing here because it really is going to take all of us if we want to believe and feel that we the people means all of us we really have to all start doing the work together thank you for that Tori you know it is your generation that's moving into leadership and are you feeling confident that the majority of this country seem to be on the right side of where we need to be going and also I want to understand how you're viewing this this effort to to really destroy voting rights to marginalize um you know our black and brown communities around this country and most of those battles are probably going to be fought by the ACLU but I was listening to to some folks talk about it yesterday on the news and you know there's you know there's not a whole lot that we can do but there are some things that we can do but where do you fall on that of sort of your your hopefulness and your feeling that that that we've got this and that we'll be able to get through the next five or six years and re-establish ourselves in some form or fashion as a leader of the world for democracy and civil rights and and all the other human rights that we've believed in all these years yeah absolutely I always believe that you know the children are future and that we need to start as early as early childhood intervention work to make sure that our young people you know have food and that they have you know education and they have a stable home and all of those things that they need in order to be you know thriving young people and make their way in the world that starts with babies and making sure that we're investing in those those resources and those organizations that are doing such important work teachers and you know all of the all of the people that are working with young people and children but um yeah I'm definitely concerned I do feel very inspired by young people to this day I mean they are the ones that are taking to social media they're protesting they're educating their elders and their communities and they're you know activating as as middle school high school age students to make sure that they can hang Black Lives Matter flag at their school that they're hanging the pride flag at school that they're marching in support of pride and trans students and their peers and that they feel they're coming together as young people and I'm so inspired by that we're so eager that you know COVID is sort of starting to pass that we're opening up our office again and that we're able to do community events because we really are so eager after this pandemic to get back into communities in person and engage with young people and make sure that they feel like they have resources you know the ACLU we can't do everything but we certainly want to make sure that we're advocating for young people and that we're educating them about democracy and knowing their rights when they're out protesting there's a lot of work to be done but it really as I said it's going to take all of us but it also is going to take maybe some of our our elders our more senior leadership folks to look out at the crowd look out at the younger generations whether it be my generation that is up and coming and rising and taking on those leadership positions certainly but looking to our young people and asking them like what's going on in your world how is this affecting you what can we learn from those those different voices and so it is a it is a scary time in many ways but I'm always inspired I was just watching the news last night and I saw that the president of the American Federation of Teachers was on CNN talking about you know her concern with this critical race theory and banning education or history in in schools across the country even New Hampshire our neighbors to the east are have experienced are experiencing that that bill just passed and their governor signed into law and you know it's such a disappointment and it's terrible that we're not able some places are fearful of preventing education educators from speaking about our past about white supremacy culture about slavery and racism and it's so important that we we honor you know we recognize the past we learn from the past and that we take those learnings and lessons and do better and make sure that we are upholding the constitution and that we live in a place that's just and inclusive of all well that's white supremacy and it's in its worst form right there and it's also the beginnings of fascism I mean just follow the fascism playbook and everything that's going on is sort of this you know putting into place the the recipe I don't even want to call it a recipe more of the you know the witches brew or although I love witches something something is definitely stirring and it's it's it's very unnerving and disconcerting period but I can never worry well unsettling and you know my generation was a radical generation I mean we were only 17 percent of our generation were part of that movement and now we have 60 to 70 percent of our country that's part of this movement so there's more people actually in this country believe in the right direction we're back in my day it was only 17 percent of my generation that were part of the 60s revolution but you know did you did you study civics in school did they give you did you have civics classes when you were in it wasn't civics I actually had a pretty lousy us history class in ninth grade but you know we had different we had history throughout my my public school education and we really didn't learn about civics enough and I think it's been a little bit of my own education and but I absolutely think that there's there's a need for that and that the ACLU does a great job of educating everyone about knowing their rights whether you're out protesting or just living your day-to-day life you know what are your rights and making sure that um if that's important to you that you are that we are protecting civil liberties well you know and it's so interesting they can try to stop people from you know learning of our children uh you know but with social media it's not going to happen I mean it's it's it's out there and it's up to the parents to make sure that the children learn and I and I think it's I think it's horrific that that we want to change the history of this country because of the the basically the white supremacist movement yeah it's really disturbing but at the end of the day we have social media so uh that we did if this had happened back in well it was happening back in my day as well where they suppressed history um you know to just skew it in the way that that people um that white people wanted to skew it um at the end of the day but we have social media now so hopefully we can educate our our children other ways and the ACLU having a role a role in that is really is really important so let's segue so thank you for that I'd like to hear your thoughts I'm thinking you know Tori I may do a show with young with young um middle and high school students I may start with the middle school and get some great it's on my show to see what how they're looking at all of this and that really has inspired me to do that but let us segue to the ACLU Vermont which is where you've just started your new job as the development master and by the way I want to let my viewers know that I am a new board member of ACLU Vermont so Tori and I've been working together and um and I've been loving my experience on this board so let's let's talk to you let's talk a little bit about um the ACLU tell us a little bit about what the American Civil Liberties Union is where it came from how it started um and I think that probably another probably 13 minutes left of our show so let's show this great organization great well and I'll say a lot of people like the ACLU but when you ask you know what do we do and sometimes people don't really know so I'm happy to um tell you all a little bit more about what we do and what we do here in Vermont so the ACLU has been around for over 100 years we are dedicated to advancing the civil rights and civil liberties of all people all Vermonters and making sure that we're supporting healthy and vibrant communities and resilient communities statewide so here in Vermont we've been a chapter or an affiliate of the national ACLU for over 50 years and we work to realize the promise of justice and equality for all people with a special emphasis on marginalized populations and Vermont's most vulnerable people um so the ACLU as I said we're an affiliate of the national ACLU there are affiliates in all 50 states as well as Puerto Rico and DC um and every day we work to safeguard and strengthen the foundations of our democracy so the constitution um we're guardians of liberty we want to make sure that everyone um is protected under those civil rights and civil liberties and we're the only multi-issue multi-disciplinary organization dedicated to civil liberties in Vermont we're in courthouses with our legal team we're in state houses advocate advocating for policy changes we are in communities with grassroots organizers talking with community members working with partner organizations speaking with town officials and really deeply in communities of individuals trying to understand the challenges that Vermonters face regarding civil liberties and civil rights and working to make changes so that we can all live in peace and live in a just and equitable state thank you so much for that that's perfectly that's perfect that's perfect um explains a lot I mean basically from my vantage point the the ACLU ACLU Vermont helps to protect those who don't have a voice right it's definitely one of the major things that we do yes protects their the liberties and the rights of people who can't afford lawyers and go off and and fight for their rights because they because they can't they don't have the resources and the ACLU steps in and fights that fight if they believe that their liberties are being challenged so let's talk a little bit about what are the top few issues that that you all are working on right now absolutely and and we we work on a multitude of issues and it is constantly changing and over a hundred years as a national organization 50 years we've seen a lot we've done a lot but we have a fantastic team and of you know lawyers and policy advocates and grassroots organizers and administrative staff and development professionals everyone's doing a fantastic job really advocating for these issues so as far as our top issues right now we are in the midst of a smart justice campaign this is a national ACLU campaign that is working to reduce the prison population across the country and specifically here in vermont by 50 percent and also combat racial disparities in the criminal legal system i'm happy to chat a little bit more about that in a minute but i wanted to cover a few more of the issues that we're working on we're also looking at reimagining policing and what that means here in vermont we really want to increase accountability both through litigation and legislation and really look at the scope of policing in vermont and make sure that it's really helping an additive to public safety and community and supporting communities and supporting vermonters and we've seen instances of that not being the case in vermont last year vermont passed the strongest use of force law in the country so limiting the use of force by police against against the public against individuals and again we want to make sure that people's rights are protected and that can change in a lot of different ways but we and look different in different situations but again ultimately we want to make sure that people's civil rights and civil liberties are protected so we do want to reduce the law the footprint of law enforcement and we're looking into and advocating for pilot pilot programs in place in place of police for mental health services so making sure that in instances where someone might be having a mental health crisis or need someone to talk to that instead of sending armed police we're sending in mental health professionals who can de-escalate and support support these individuals and support these communities rather than you know the impact that police can have is not always positive we're also advocates for decriminalizing and legalizing cannabis marijuana making sure that we're not imprisoning people who have minor offenses or nonviolent offenses and making sure that we can support them in their recovery and help them be better community members through restorative justice or other mechanisms that will help return them to the community and be thriving members of our communities and finally I just wanted to mention we're working very closely with Planned Parenthood on reproductive freedom we're actually starting a campaign this fall in support of Proposition 5 which would enshrine reproductive liberty in the Vermont Constitution and you've talked a little bit about our concerns around reproductive rights being in question state you know states across the country are passing bans on abortion and we're worried about Roe v Wade in the Supreme Court Vermont is really working hard to make sure that we have those protections here for our people and that if we can pass Prop 5 we can enshrine it in our Vermont Constitution so that abortion will be legal in Vermont and so that's something we're really excited about this coming year and just finally racial justice has been on the forefront of people's minds so much so over the last year after the George Floyd murder and this racial reckoning we've had over the last year and countless other BIPOC members of our community being killed either at the hands of police or other individuals so racial justice is something that runs through all of our work here in Vermont and nationally with ACLU we really can't advocate for civil rights and civil liberties if we're not looking at racial injustice and we do that work here internally the ACLU with our equity diversity inclusion and belonging programming and training so we're doing that work here as staff we want to be better we're always learning and we want to make sure that we're again partnering with organizations that have that focus on EDIB so that we can be doing our best work learning from each other learning from those impacted and marginalized communities and making sure that we're furthering those civil rights for everyone thank you for that Tori I mean in Vermont you know we think that we're so progressive and and and that we care about civil liberties but in Vermont we have we have issues just like other places in the country um and there is pot there are pockets of deep racism in this state and um and so I really honor this work uh and honor you for for doing it um one of the things I wanted to ask you is I know that the organization has grown quite a bit so can you talk a little bit about how it's grown in the last couple of years under the leadership of Duff Duff Lyle who's now the new uh he's been the executive director about six years now and how five years and how he is five years and how he has Duff has transformed this organization as the executive director and um and some of the some of the new positions that you've filled to help do this work absolutely we're really excited so just last month we announced the creation of six new staff positions in our legal advocacy and communication programs including within that six four new hires as well as the promotion of two of our staff attorneys to um now uh legal director and general counsel um so really excited for those colleagues that are that are growing in our organization um so about five years ago our organization ACLU of Vermont was only about five full-time staff we had two legal staff we had some administrative staff and an executive director and when our new executive director came on James Duff Lyle five years ago it was also a time in which um the 2016 election had just occurred and there was momentum both nationally and here in Vermont around we need to uphold and protect our democracy and our values and civil rights and civil liberties are being called into question more so than ever in our recent history and so with that support with folks contributing and getting involved and and activating the ACLU has grown nationally and has also grown here in Vermont so it is all of that support coming together that allows us to grow and add additional staff positions because the reality is the issues and the work is still is still needed we still have we need to have more impact here in Vermont because we'll continue to see these problems occurring more than ever more than ever so we're adding these new staff positions we're going to be adding two new legal and advocacy fellows so these will be um there are new positions coming right out of law school or grad school for young civil rights activists and lawyers to be able to help do that work create more um capacity to do that legal and advocacy work here in Vermont we've also upped our communications and public education staff so this is going to allow us we went from five full-time staff about five years ago so now we're going to be going up to 13 but this is because of a 70% increase in Vermont support over the past year so this is possible because of Vermonters speaking up and saying we need the ACLU please help we want to be a part of this solution so those are our members our supporters our volunteers our community members who are saying they want to help you know how can they help and again by having more staff by having more impact we can really start to make sure that our civil rights and civil liberties are protected and that everyone can live in peace here in Vermont that's what we're all really trying to to enjoy and feel safe in our community so Tori as we close here can we cheer with our viewers how they can participate and give to the ACLU Vermont what are the methods for them to give no amount is too small to my viewers out there if you support the work of protecting the civil liberties of all of all Vermonters this is an organization that you would that you may want to contribute to and no contribution is too small so Tori can you give that information of how people can donate to ACLU Vermont absolutely thanks Melinda so really it's about getting involved and whatever that looks like for you I really talk about time talent and treasure so if you have capacity to volunteer please fill out our interest form on our website you can fill out our smart justice petition if you would like to see incarceration numbers drop where our goal is to drop that by 50 percent and we are about 40 percent of that goal so we're really excited to be pushing forward in that campaign you can follow us on social media we're on all social media platforms and please contact your decision makers in your town in your statewide elected office talk to them and advocate for the issues that you care about and you can always contact us as well reach out to us on social media or on our website and if you need assistance you can certainly do that as well and if you are able to make a financial contribution as Melinda said no amount is too small we really appreciate that commitment that you're making with your gift and we just really appreciate everyone speaking up taking a stand in any way that you can how do they do how do they do that Tori how do they make a donation yeah thank you we can you can go to acluvt.org slash give and that will take you right to our donation page you can also become a member if you'd like to be a member of the union and there's all of that information on our website and we're happy to post that link as well but we just appreciate everyone stepping up and doing their part because we the people really means all of us and we're in it together so thanks again for having me Melinda Tori you're amazing so aclvt.org that's it that's your that's your website so acluvt.org folks go visit the website it's a it's a great website um Tori you know I'm just so moved by you and your brilliance and your commitment and your strength and um and I and I and I want to I want to thank you so much for being on my show today and for sharing your story and the work of the aclu vermont and to my viewers I want you all to have a wonderful rest of the summer and um I will see you all next month goodbye